The Poverty Row
studio Columbia Pictures won 13 Academy Awards in the 1930s, and 11 of them
were directed by Frank Capra. Capra was a filmmaker both loved and despised for
his saccharine handling of social issues in film, each making grand statements
in themes with the help of likeably quirky characters. Some criticize this
style, while others revel in the pure emotional pleasure of films like It’s a Wonderful Life and You Can’t Take it With You. While there
is an incredible amount of realism in Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington, including a recreated set of the Senate chamber,
it also has the unmistakably familiar touch of Capra sentimentality.

Based on the
short story “Fire in the Hole” by crime novelist Elmore Leonard, “Justified”
works as an adaptation with room for growth. Timothy Olyphant has a strong
presence as the lead, and he has plenty of experience carrying a western-type
show, though this FX seriesis far more similar to “Sons of Anarchy” than
“Deadwood.” The premise had begun to run a little bit thin by the third season,
though the inevitable final season in sight has increased the stakes of the
drama. He is still a lawman who often operates outside of conventional law, and
surrounded by corruption this is often a necessary approach.

I have a vague
recollection of enjoying Dead Snow, but little about the actual film stands out
in my mind. The main problem is the cookie-cutter co-ed characters and set-up
that resembled numerous other horror movies. The familiarity of this set-up was
only off-set by the creativity and tone of the film’s violence, though the
first act forces the audience to spend far too much time with a predictable
premise and disposable characters. This problem is immediately resolved in the
sequel, which begins where the first film ended, with solitary survivor Martin
(Vegar Hoel) battling zombies after accidentally killing his girlfriend and
sawing his own arm off. This fast-paced beginning only lets up for moments, but
once again filmmaker Tommy Wirkola’s strength lies in the creatively gory
action.

I desperately
wanted to like the romantic comedy spoof, They
Came Together, because few genres of film are as formulaic and predictable.
The problem with that film was the inability to exceed the sheer ridiculousness
of the popular date movie narrative. Even in the attempt to mock romantic
comedies, They Came Together simply
resembled the worst, most contrived, formulaic and cliché of the genre; like What If. If you picture any
stereotypical romantic comedy scenario, it is presented unironically somewhere
in the 98-minute running-time of this fluff art.